The cold and wind in Estabrook Park this morning were about the same as yesterday, but the clouds were back with a vengeance, and the pretty blue sky we had was long gone. Nevertheless, this ain’t a portrait studio, and we’ve gotta take pictures with the light and backgrounds we’ve got, so here we go.
The mud on the river path is starting to dry out, so I followed it upstream from the far south end, but the river is high and fast right now, and most of the waterfowl that we’ve seen there over the winter are on their way back north.
Thus, I didn’t see anything of note until I reached the wide and slow part under the twin radio towers. There, I was pretty sure I caught a glimpse of the pied-billed grebe just as it dove, and as I scanned the water with my camera waiting for it to resurface, look who I spotted steaming upstream along the far riverbank: our old friend, the beaver.
Even better, it steamed right past another sight we haven’t seen in a while, the muskrat, who I had not noticed up on the far shore.
But wait, there’s more! Just about when it got even with me, it clambered out of the water to search for something to nibble on.
Sadly, it didn’t find anything it liked and headed back toward the water, but before it dove in, it had one more surprise. Now, I don’t know if it is sticking its tongue out at me or just yawning, but either way, that’s a face I have not seen before.
Anyway, with the beaver now out of sight, I could finally turn my attention back to the muskrat, who was still up on shore, where it sniffed around a bit, and then joined the beaver back in the water.
I eventually did find the grebe later in the morning, on my way back downstream, but the picture didn’t come out as nice as the one yesterday, so here’s a look at the non-breeding horned grebe between the upstream islands instead.
Finally, here’s my first decent picture of a male brown-headed cowbird for the year. I’ve been seeing one since Saturday, but it has managed to keep itself obscured by branches until today.
I realize they are not everyone’s favorite bird, but before you go all “boo hoo” about their brood parasitism, and its negative impact on some other bird that you do favor, remember that “expansion of agricultural areas and removal of forest cover have greatly benefited this species by providing more overall habitat and by giving cowbirds access to new host species that have not developed defensive strategies against nest parasitism,” and that, like many other issues, is mostly on us, isn’t it.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 